CHICAGO | Obama Presidential Library

[untitledreality]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

Agreed. Now if only there was some kind of transit line going straight to Jackson Park...

It's amazing how bad the city that has pretty much invented the last couple of revolutions in urban planning is at urban planning.

Just because something is revolutionary doesn't mean it is good. Urban planning in Chicago has been an utter and complete failure for the last 75 years.



But back to the Library... I have already heard some not so quiet criticism over the programmatic requirements from one of the design teams. Making the design 'urban' is appearing to be somewhat challenging.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by untitledreality

Just because something is revolutionary doesn't mean it is good. Urban planning in Chicago has been an utter and complete failure for the last 75 years.

75 years? Back to 1931? I don't think you really meant that. Even today there are still some OK things happening. If Chicago is a failure in the last 75 years, then most of the rest of the country shouldn't even exist.

But back to the Library... I have already heard some not so quiet criticism over the programmatic requirements from one of the design teams. Making the design 'urban' is appearing to be somewhat challenging.

Because both of the areas have vacant lots around and both potential spots are in the middle of sizable parks with a good amount of just green space?

[denizen467]

Originally Posted by ardecila

As LVDW just noted, there are high security requirements for this building and a large secure perimeter is needed. That means either closing a bunch of streets, or locating in the park and hoping you don't have to tear down any baseball fields or tennis courts.

Is this really true? Why would this type of facility require security more than, say, the Art Institute or some other repository of valuable items? And sporadic visits by an ex president should only marginally change the calculus. Also, while I haven't visited other presidential libraries, I suspect they generally have issues covering their own operating expenses beyond an initial period of visitor enthusiasm, and I assume the costs of security wouldn't be covered by the federal government as an ex president's secret service protection is.

[untitledreality]

Originally Posted by marothisu

75 years? Back to 1931? I don't think you really meant that. Even today there are still some OK things happening. If Chicago is a failure in the last 75 years, then most of the rest of the country shouldn't even exist.

1941 actually. And yes, most of the urban planning across this entire country during that time has been an absolute failure as well.

Originally Posted by marothisu

Because both of the areas have vacant lots around and both potential spots are in the middle of sizable parks with a good amount of just green space?

Security and Parking. While proposing for the library to be situated at the NW corner of MLK & Garfield is the most urban choice, the scope of those two requirements make it rather difficult to generate a truly integrated solution.

[maru2501]

[QUOTE=untitledreality;7361105]Just because something is revolutionary doesn't mean it is good. Urban planning in Chicago has been an utter and complete failure for the last 75 years.




Riverwalk alone makes this untrue of even the last ten years

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by denizen467

Is this really true? Why would this type of facility require security more than, say, the Art Institute or some other repository of valuable items? And sporadic visits by an ex president should only marginally change the calculus. Also, while I haven't visited other presidential libraries, I suspect they generally have issues covering their own operating expenses beyond an initial period of visitor enthusiasm, and I assume the costs of security wouldn't be covered by the federal government as an ex president's secret service protection is.

yea i dont fully understand this either. its not like hes living there. i mean, if we can have federal courthouses in the middle of the Loop im not seeing what the big deal is.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by denizen467

Is this really true? Why would this type of facility require security more than, say, the Art Institute or some other repository of valuable items? And sporadic visits by an ex president should only marginally change the calculus. Also, while I haven't visited other presidential libraries, I suspect they generally have issues covering their own operating expenses beyond an initial period of visitor enthusiasm, and I assume the costs of security wouldn't be covered by the federal government as an ex president's secret service protection is.

No, the libraries (or at least the preservation and archival aspects, along with security) are operated by NARA and fully funded by the Federal government. The operating, programming, and outreach of the "public"/museum aspects of the presidential library is likely funded by the ex-president's foundation.

At Little Rock, for example, the Clinton archives themselves are actually housed in a separate building from the public museum to keep the budgeting simpler. All of them are on a secure pedestrianized campus that doesn't really interface with the city well.

Arguably the Art Institute faces a big theft risk, but generally people don't build bombs out of their opposition to Picasso. The Art Institute faces no greater risk of terrorist threat than any other public place, while the Presidential Library is a symbol of Obama's politics and government generally which makes it a target. It's sad that our supercharged political rhetoric allows such wackos to flourish...

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by untitledreality

Security and Parking. While proposing for the library to be situated at the NW corner of MLK & Garfield is the most urban choice, the scope of those two requirements make it rather difficult to generate a truly integrated solution.

I don't think there's anything wrong with a broader master plan that calls for mixed-use infill in addition to the library, if the library needs to stand alone east of King.

Given Obama's popularity in Chicago, the "Obama Campus" can easily act as a lightning rod to scoop up any and all resources for public/affordable housing.

I'd love to see something like the Bronx's Via Verde go up on the vacant site west of King.


src

[untitledreality]

Originally Posted by maru2501

Riverwalk alone makes this untrue of even the last ten years

To disprove my statement you chose a six block long, downtown vanity project? Maybe if you said Millennium Park I would cut you some slack, but not even that project comes close to countering the monumental missteps Chicago has accrued over the past 75 years.

[maru2501]

I could name several things that would counter "utter and complete"

[Ryanrule]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

First, we build a wall...


Seriously dude, I hope he was just accidentally wording it that way without realizing what he was implying. I am hoping they were thinking something like "yeah guys, obviously it's road diets and TOD. Duh." But worded it so it sounds like they are literally Hitler.

perhaps the words "politically and economically" should have gone before "palatable"

[BVictor1]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/o...502-story.html

Obama library could seed a turnaround on Woodlawn's open land

Angela Caputo and Dahleen GlantonContact Reporters

Chicago Tribune
May 3, 2016

If Woodlawn is chosen as the site for the Obama Presidential Center, a South Side megachurch, a nonprofit development organization and the city could suddenly find themselves holding some of the most valuable land on the South Side.

While President Barack Obama still is weighing whether to build his library and museum in Jackson Park or Washington Park, the possibility that he'll choose Jackson Park is raising hope in Woodlawn for an economic renaissance that could reverse decades of unfulfilled promises of redevelopment.

Woodlawn has a vast amount of space near the proposed site: more than 300 tracts of undeveloped land and parking lots.

Nearly a third of those properties are clustered near 63rd Street and Stony Island Avenue. The biggest landowners include the city; Apostolic Church of God, a 20,000-seat megachurch; and the nonprofit Woodlawn Community Development Corp., according to a Tribune analysis of property records. Key parcels were acquired from the city at a discount years ago.

As a Woodlawn resident, I'm hoping Washington Park is the choice. The church as mentioned, along with Finney and the former alderman are the reason the Jackson Park branch of the 'L' was demolished back toe Cottage. The section of the neighborhood ask of Cottage saw a number of new buildings and homes constructed, while West Woodlawn (west of Cottage) has languished.

So Brazier has 18,000 members who need parking? Well some of some of those damn lots to the highest bigger and build a parking structure along the Metra tracks.

AND NO MORE SINGLE FAMILY ALONG 63rd Street. WHAT A FUCKTARD DECISION that was.

[r18tdi]

Breaking: Obama Presidential Library Will Be Designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects

Link:
http://www.curbed.com/2016/6/30/1206...ien-architects

[pilsenarch]

http://www.barackobamafoundation.org...c-announce-bof

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by pilsenarch

http://www.barackobamafoundation.org...c-announce-bof

Also includes Interactive Design Architects of Chicago. Excellent choice, if not potentially a "safer" design team. Congrats!

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by sentinel

Also includes Interactive Design Architects of Chicago. Excellent choice, if not potentially a "safer" design team. Congrats!

Nice to see some local talent involved in the project.

[ardecila]

Yes, I'm happy about this choice. Tod Williams + Billie Tsien are some of the best American architects around. I'm glad that the Obama Foundation didn't make a token choice based on race. Slightly disappointed that John Ronan didn't get the nod, but I'm confident that Williams + Tsien will produce an amazing building full of nuance and beautiful both inside and out. Their Asia Society building in Hong Kong is pure poetry.

The big takeaway for me here is that Williams + Tsien are great architects, but they're not urbanists per se. I would expect them to fully embrace a design that stands alone in the park versus something that engages with the surrounding neighborhood. As noted before, this also jives with the strict security requirements for the Library, but it's a missed opportunity for the South Side. Plus, without the architect pulling for a design that engages the city, I think the Foundation will lean towards the Jackson Park site because of its proximity to the lake and the Museum of Science/Industry.



I wonder if the Obama Foundation has already made their choice in favor of Jackson Park? It would certainly explain Rahm's newfound interest in the Gray Line proposal for Metra Electric... it checks a number of boxes politically, bringing rapid transit to the U of C, the Obama Library, the Pullman Monument, and numerous black communities on the South Side at a fraction of the cost of the Red Line extension (maybe the final nail in the coffin of that project). In practice, though, it's less useful as transit since it doesn't connect to the rest of the CTA or Metra systems.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by ardecila

...
It would certainly explain Rahm's newfound interest in the Gray Line proposal for Metra Electric... it checks a number of boxes politically, bringing rapid transit to the U of C, the Obama Library, the Pullman Monument, and numerous black communities on the South Side at a fraction of the cost of the Red Line extension (maybe the final nail in the coffin of that project). In practice, though, it's less useful as transit since it doesn't connect to the rest of the CTA or Metra systems.

It's not much, but Rock Island and Metra Electric have adjacent stations in Blue Island.

And extending the Green Line at 63rd to meet the Metra Electric tracks again would be one way to tie it to the CTA (and the South Shore, too).

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by emathias

It's not much, but Rock Island and Metra Electric have adjacent stations in Blue Island.

And extending the Green Line at 63rd to meet the Metra Electric tracks again would be one way to tie it to the CTA (and the South Shore, too).

Rock Island is also an outlier in the Metra system, depositing passengers blocks away from the other Metra lines at Union and Ogilvie.

Part of the Gray Line proposal includes facilitating bus transfers, which is great if you live on the South Side and heading downtown, but not so great to get to West Loop, River North, or the North or West Sides. Let alone the north or west suburbs, where South Siders could potentially find decent jobs. Later phases could bring Metra Electric into Union Station and/or extend to O'hare, which would be great.

Plus, yesterday's budget deal includes a new TIF financing tool that would apply to the Red Line Extension but not Metra Electric.

[Randomguy34]

Obama chooses historic Jackson Park as library site

By Kathy Bergen , Dahleen Glanton , Blair Kamin and Katherine Skiba
Chicago Tribune

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama have selected historic Jackson Park, just east of the University of Chicago, as the site for the Obama Presidential Center, a source confirmed Wednesday. A formal announcement is expected next week.

In choosing this linear stretch of green space over Washington Park, the other finalist site, the Obamas have opted for the less challenging of the two options. Both gracious South Side parks were designed by legendary 19th Century landscape designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, but the Jackson Park site is cloaked in a more powerful collection of assets.

Located near the Museum of Science and Industry, the lakefront and the eastern edge of the University of Chicago campus, the site allows for the creation of a museum campus in the heart of the park, accented by an existing lagoon, lush woods and greenery. The winding 543-acre park is an oasis on the South Side. The center would be a short hop to either Lake Shore Drive or to two Metra train stations, strong pulls for visitors.

Jackson Park's western edge along Stony Island Avenue connects with Woodlawn, an impoverished African-American neighborhood but one that is beginning to gentrify. And the Hyde Park neighborhood, just north of Woodlawn and surrounding the university, already is booming.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/o...727-story.html